Floor 11 (SAO)

Bow blinked and looked up at him, considerably confused. Still she was holding her knees and her nose was a little red from crying softly. She tilted her head and spoke quietly. "A-are you ready to go back into town, Raistlin?" Her mind wasn't putting two and two together. It actually saddened her that he had gotten up. She wanted to keep talking to him.

Raistlin put his hand on his face and said. "Well that killed it." He laughed heartily and said. "I'm going to be the one to protect you Bow. I'm the one who will watch your back. But I don't do guilds. I rather detest most people."

Bow looked up at him, still confused when he laughed. When he started to talk though she started to shake her head, a seriousness about her growing. As he concluded, she sighed and stood up, putting a hand on her hip, looking regretful. "I apologize, but I can't accept your offer, Raistlin. I am "The Howling Tamer" of the KOTBO... I'm dedicated to my guild and could never leave them. I'm sorry."

Raistlin laughed louder and asked. "Really? Your really the howling tamer? Wow... never mind then." he glanced out to the sea thinking things over.

Bow smiled when he laughed and sighed silently to herself. She then thought she would try and alleviate some of this negative atmosphere she was feeling. Thinking for a moment herself, she decided to tackle him playfully into the water. "That's right! You're friends with a leader of the lead guild! Fear me!!" *giggle*

Raistlin looked at her with fire in his eyes for a split second before it was gone and he laughed and grabbed her sides rolling to the side with her. "I don't fear anything in this world. I've yet to meet anything that could slow me down let alone stop me."

Bow didn't notice the anger in his eyes and just laughed with him as he rolled her to the side. When he spoke she smiled happily and looked into his eyes, glad to see the sparkle of cheer. She nodded and talked pleasantly. "You seem very strong, Raistlin. I would actually invite you to join our guild if you hadn't said you despised them..."

Raistlin said seriously. "Sorry not interested in an ant colony, but the leader very much has a little interest. Despite what you said, your honestly kinda sad to me. So! I'm gonna stick with you anyway. Not like you can really stop me right?"

Bow blinked and stood up, a little flustered. "I-I'm going back to my guild tomorrow morning... Do you plan to join in order to stay with me? Because that's the only way you could possibly hope to. And I would honestly advise against that since you hate guilds... and... I already have someone that protects me... Though he may not be with me right now... I-I know he still cares..." She held her hand in a fist over her chest as she talked about JaK, just praying she was right about him.

Raistlin sighed getting up and walking away. "Well you can go ahead and add me to your contacts. I guess I'll leave you to your missing boyfriend, not like he'd want you hanging with... someone like me anyway." he seemed more than slightly irritated and sounded rather sarcastic when he mentioned her boyfriend, in his mind the dude must have been scum to leave her to wander.

Bow was stunned for a moment after he spoke, but then ran to catch up to him and skipped around to get in front and walk backwards. "You know... Even if you are all big and tough... You really shouldn't wander the forest by yourself at night. It's really dangerous..." She looked genuinely concerned for him and got out her rapier from her inventory. "Just because I hate fighting doesn't mean I'm no good at it..." *giggle*

Raistlin just looked at her and sighed asking. "What would whatever his name say? You wandering the forest with some stranger." He suddenly got a smirk and said. "What if I were to join your guild, what benefits are there, I've never looked at it honestly."

Bow thought about JaK for a moment, wondering what exactly he would think. Of course he wouldn't like it but, he was the one that chose to be a solo player. She sighed and then he smirked and kept talking, making Bow look up at him again. When he said he wanted to join, her eyebrows furrowed and she stopped, looking at him seriously, going into Leader Bow Mode. "You have said before that you hate guilds and despise most people... Why would you want to join my guild? The benefits should be a second thought. What is your first reason to want to join?"

The air around her would have changed. She would no longer seem like the sniffling little girl in the stand. A woman now replaced her, and this lady was looking him up and down. No doubt he would be a good asset to their guild, but that wasn't what Bow looked for. Of course it mattered, but there were plenty who were trying to prove their skill. It took more than that to make it in Bow's opinion. There were some in her guild who thought differently, but Bow had always stuck by her decisions, and that was what she was going to do now.

Raistlin said quite seriously in return. "Well you said I can't watch your back unless I'm a member, since I'm not giving that up I guess I'll have to play nice with your friends." He slid his hands in his pockets. He wasn't hiding anything in his answer, clearly he saw her as needing protection from everything she'd said.

Bow thought about it for a long moment. It was a convincing statement, but then she felt a ping in her heart as she thought of JaK and she shook her head. "If that's your only reason... I apologize but I can't let you join... I'm the one to watch the backs of my group. It can never be the other way around. That's not the way I do things..." Plus, she thought, I shouldn't let him get too close to me. There was an odd sense she got from him. It wasn't clear what it was, but she didn't like it.